TicketNetwork CEO Charged With Hurling Racial Insult At Oscars Party

Donald Vaccaro, 49, was arrested at the Real Art Ways Oscar party for allegedly making racist remarks

Donald Vaccaro, 49, was arrested at the Real Art Ways Oscar party for allegedly making racist remarks (HANDOUT)

CHRISTINE DEMPSEY, cdempsey@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

The CEO of TicketNetwork Inc. faces a hate crime charge after he hurled racial insults at an Oscar party, police said.Donald Vaccaro, 49, of Clark Hill Road, Glastonbury, was charged with second-degree hate crime, second-degree threatening, breach of peace, first-degree criminal trespass and interfering with police, police said.Vaccaro could not be reached for comment, but in a statement released by a public relations firm, Vaccaro said, “This was a very unfortunate incident. I am deeply concerned about what has been reported and I am taking the allegations very seriously.”According to police, officers were called to Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor St., about 12:10 a.m. Monday for an assault complaint.Vaccaro called police himself, according to an incident report. When an officer arrived, Vaccaro was in the parking lot, and he showed the officer “a tiny scratch on the heel of his palm and a small smear of blood” and claimed that a bouncer had assaulted him, the report states.The officer smelled alcohol on his breath, and Vaccaro's speech was “slightly slurred,” the report states.The bouncer told police that Vaccaro was being watched during the event “because he was being disrespectful to several women,” the report states.“He touched several women, kissing them on both cheeks,” the bouncer told police. “It didn't seem to bother the women, so I didn't mess with the guy.”But at the end of the event, Vaccaro “grabbed one last woman and asked her what designer she was wearing, as if she was on the red carpet and he was interviewing her,” the bouncer told police. “He turned her around so that he could look at the whole dress and then he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her close ... kissed her on both cheeks and then he grabbed her breasts with both hands.”“At that time, she looked over at me and she had a look of terror on her face,” the bouncer told police, according to the report.The woman told the bouncer that she was extremely uncomfortable. The bouncer told police that he asked Vaccaro to let go of the woman's hand, but Vaccaro refused. Then the bouncer “pried his hand off of hers and I asked him to leave,” the report states.Vaccaro said he would leave after he finished his wine, but the bouncer escorted him out the front door, he told police.Then, Vaccaro said, “You never should have touched me, you black mother-[expletive],” the bouncer told police.Vaccaro took out his cellphone and said he was going to call his driver, who would “come and kick my ass,” the bouncer told police. But the bouncer “smacked the phone out of his hand” and Vaccaro “threw his hands in a fighting stance,” the report states.At that point, the director of Real Art Ways came outside and asked the bouncer to return inside, he told police.Vaccaro also refused to provide information for an arrest report, according to the incident report, but he did ask why that “black mother-[expletive]” wasn't being arrested as well.Will K. Wilkins, executive director of Real Art Ways, said he hopes the arrest doesn't overshadow the party, which was a “spectacular success.” The event raised money — it's still being counted, he said — for both Real Art ways and for the Connecticut AIDS Resouce Coalition.He said he did not see the incident. Neither his organization nor the security guard called police, he said. Vaccaro called them, Wilkins said.In a statement released by Duby McDowell Communications LLC, Vacarro said, “People who know me are well aware that my approaches to life and work are highly inclusive and the comments reported do not reflect my values.”He has asked Jim Wade, of the Hartford law firm Robinson & Cole, to represent him, according to the statement.TicketNetwork, which Vaccaro founded in 2002, has been one of the most aggressive growth companies in central Connecticut over the past few years. The company operates an online marketplace for tickets to sports and entertainment events.In July, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named TicketNetwork as one of his “First Five” companies, offering $6.3 million in low-interest loans after the company promised to add at least 200 jobs.Malloy issued a statement through his director of communications on Monday saying: “If these allegations prove true, they are reprehensible. Mr. Vaccaro should be ashamed of himself.”TicketNetwork at the time had 330 employees, and Vaccaro said it would have at least 400 in 2012 and would eventually add 600. Soon after, the company held a job fair.Vaccaro proved to be a generous donor to local politicians, some of whom announced in the wake of his arrest that they would donate the money given to them to charities.U.S. Rep. John Larson, one of the recipients of Vaccaro’s donations, said Monday he plans to make a $2,400 donation to a charity. Larson, a Democrat representing the 1st District, received that sum from Vaccaro in October, 2010, according to spokesman Chris Licata.The campaign is still working on the logistics of which local charity will be receiving the contribution, Licata said.House Speaker Chris Donovan, who is running for the 5th District Congressional seat, said he, too, will be donating $1,000 given to him by Vaccaro to a women’s shelter in Meriden.The office of U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney on Monday also said it would steer Vaccaro's 2010 $2,400 in campaign donations to charity: $1,200 to the New London Homeless Hospitality Center; $1,200 to the Hockanum Valley Community Council in Vernon.Vaccaro has been outspoken on behalf of the company, and TicketNetwork has been involved in several high-profile legal disputes.Last year, TicketNetwork filed a lawsuit against The Bushnell, alleging that David Fay, president of the Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall Corp. in Hartford, made disparaging comments about TicketNetwork and Vaccaro during testimony before the state legislature. That lawsuit is pending.Also last year, TicketNetwork moved to the former headquarters of Gerber Scientific Inc. in South Windsor, a few hundred feet from the Vernon town line. Vaccaro had previously been in a dispute with the town of Vernon after the planning board rejected TicketNetwork's application for an outdoor amphitheater on the same large parcel as the company's headquarters. Vaccaro accused the town of accepting improper information about the plan.In 2010, TicketNetwork sued the Better Business Bureau, alleging that the agency discriminated against non-members by rewarding higher ratings to member firms. BBB agreed to stop awarding the higher ratings.Vaccaro continued with the lawsuit, saying, “We think more issues will come out of this investigation. … We see this as a bigger issue than just us. This is a nonprofit organization where executives are making a six-digit salary.”Courant Staff Writers Jon Lender, David Owens, Daniela Altimari, Dave Altimari and Stephen Busemeyer contributed to this story.